


The Magic 8ball

by Waywocket



Category: Steam Powered Giraffe
Genre: Annoying Siblings, Magic 8ball, Siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:21:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23515348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Waywocket/pseuds/Waywocket
Summary: Rabbit gets a new magic 8ball and asks it everything. The Spine is done.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 26





	The Magic 8ball

Sitting in the music room The Spine leaned against a wall while he tuned his guitar. It was time to practice for the next show, programming only went so far, and he was the only one in the room, again. Sighing he watched the door briefly while he finished his tuning, not that he really needed to. They could catch each other over wifi easily enough. 

Five minutes late, then ten. Punctuality may not have been Rabbit’s strong suit but she was rarely late for practice. And Zero was always on time, this was peculiar.

Fifteen, then twenty. That was enough to make The Spine worry. Just as he was stepping out of the room he saw them coming down the hall. At first, he was relieved they hadn’t forgotten but, then he was annoyed. 

Walking side by side they were giggling at something in Rabbit’s hands. She was holding it so The Spine couldn’t see. Moving whatever it was, they both burst into another fit of giggles again as they came up to The Spine in the hall.

“Hiya, The Spine! So-sorry we’re late!” Grinning she held up what was in her hands, nearly smacking her brother in the face with it. It was a black ball? Turning it in her hand she showed him the white circle on top with a black ‘8’ written inside it. A rather large 8ball.

Confused, and no less annoyed, he took it from her to look it over. It was light. Turning it in his hands he saw it was clear at the bottom with something inside it. Shaking it gently it turned to read ‘Concentrate and Try Again’.

“A toy. You were late because you were playing with an old plastic toy? These things are nearly as old as we are!” When the two of them giggled he pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “Whatever. You’re here now, we’ve got practice to do. And songs to write.”

Rabbit grabbed the magic 8ball as the two of them hurried into the room to practice. At least they were able to focus enough to get through practice, even if they had blown a good portion of it off. If only it would have lasted into writing.

It wasn’t normally a social activity so, The Spine wasn’t particularly concerned that the other two weren’t working on anything. But he didn’t appreciate all the giggling. Looking over he saw Zer0 and Rabbit hunched over that toy again.

“Sh-sh-should I use the melodica for my n-n-new song?”

Zer0 leaned closer and read it out loud. “As I see it yes!” They both giggled excitedly. “Well, now you gotta, Rabbit! Go get it!”

“Oh my gosh! I th-think it’s around her. I haven’t used it in a-while!” Rabbit hopped up and scurried off to where they kept the instruments and started digging around.

Well, at least they were trying to be productive, decided Spine as he went back to working out a new melody. Or at least he tried to. With Rabbit digging through everything he was struggling to keep his focus. He swore it sounded more like she was throwing everything out of the cabinet. Looking over his shoulder his eyes went wide. 

“RABBIT!”

After spending most of the morning trying to put the music room back to rights The Spine Slumped into one of the sturdy kitchen chairs. It wouldn’t have been so bad, or taken half as long if Rabbit had put that damned toy down instead of asking where everything went. Like she didn’t already know! 

He just wanted to drink his water and unwind before doing anything else. Something so simple, and something he knew was impossible when Rabbit came in the room.

“Mi-mister Magic 8ba-ball, what glass should I use, ya think?” Rabbit asked as she started pulling out all of them.

Sighing The Spine pinched the bridge of his nose. “You have to ask it yes or no questions Rabbit. It can’t answer complicated ones.”

“Oh yeah,” she sang as she started shaking the piece of plastic so hard that her brother thought she would send it through the wall. “Should I use the re-red glass?” Turning it over she frowned and sat the red one down. “Okay, he doesn’t like red. What about-about blue?” Another shake and she huffed. “He doesn’t like blue either, The Spine.”

“Try the princess glass,” sighed The Spine as he finished his water. If she was going to ask that thing about every glass, he wasn’t going to stick around.

“Oh, go-good ideal!” Picking up the glittery princess glass she asked again. With another shake, she flipped it over and cheered. “Yes! This is my fav-favourite one! He-he must have known,” she giggled and filled it up with water from the tap.

“Or it was just a coincidence,” muttered The Spine as he ducked out of the room and into a lounge. It hadn’t even been a day and he was already sick of that toy. He was just going to watch a movie and ignore his siblings for the rest of the day.

That lasted all of twenty minutes.

Just as he let his guard down and started to enjoy the movie the other two were standing in front of the television and giggling again. He tried to look past them. “Hey, guys? I’m trying to watch a movie, do you mind?”

“Aw come on Spine! Pl-play with us, it’s a lot of, lot of fun! See!” Rabbit shook the toy again. “Can you ride a quesadilla?” Shaking it again she tiled it so Zero could read it.

“‘All signs point to yes’! Yeah! See? We’re gonna need really big tortillas though, Rabbit.”

She shrugged. “Th-that’s okay, Zero! I’m sure we can get some b-big enough for all of us. They gots everything on the inter-internet!” Holding it in front of The Spine she grinned. “Come on! Try it out!”

Blinking slowly he looked between the two. They really weren’t going to let him be. With a long sigh, and an even longer stream of steam he held out his hand, but Rabbit wouldn’t let go. Fine.

“Are these two ever let me get back to my movie?” He watched as she shook it. Maybe if it said yes they would go away. As it flipped over any hope for peace was shattered by the small reading of ‘don’t count on it’. He groaned when the duo cheered.

“Don’t be such a sour puss. You’re havin’ fun aint-aint-ain'tcha?”

“Can’t you go play somewhere else?”

“But Spine! You read the magic 8ball, we gotta stay with you now,” chimed Zero while he looked over the ball and thought of a new question for it.

“No. You really don’t. It’s just a toy, guys. You could play with that in any room of the house.”

“Don’t be such a dummins! Of course, we have to stay.”

“Rabbit, I’m not a dummins. I just want to watch a movie.”

Rabbit shook the magic 8ball again and showed it to him. It just said ‘yes’. “See-see, the magic 8ball says ya are, so ya got-gotta be!”

The Spine just scowled at the toy then them while they plopped down on the floor and started to ask it more questions.

“Oh! Oh! Ask it if we’re pretty princesses, Rabbit!” Zero giggled and wiggled his feet in excitement while he watched Rabbit shake the ball.

“With-without a doubt! We must be the prettiest of princesses!”

Zero looked up at Spine, he had taken to putting the closed captioning on so he could at least try and enjoy the movie. “Even, The Spine?”

Rabbit shook it and turned it over. “‘My reply is no’, huh. Guess dum-dummins can’t be pretty princesses.” She grinned cheekily when she saw The Spine’s eye twitch. This was the most fun she’d had in a while!

“Maybe it’s because The Spine’s been in such a bad mood all day? You can’t be a pretty princess and be grumpy, right?” Offered Zero, trying to be helpful.

“Yeah! What’s with that? You got diarrhea again, Spineo? That why you’re bein’ such a killjoy?”

Narrowing his eyes at his sister The Spine crossed his arms over his chest. “For the last time, Rabbit. Robots can’t get diarrhea!”

Humming she shook the toy again. “We’ll just see about that, won’t we?” Looking at it she giggled. “‘Outlook good! I think that means he doesn’t have to change his pants yet. What do you think, Zero?”

While the two of them cackled and joked Spine dropped his head back against the chair he was sitting on. “I don’t have diarrhea,” he mumbled to himself.

“Why don’t you ask it if Jenny loved you, Rabbit. After you dropped her and all.”

That sobered Rabbit up quickly. “Wh-what!? Of of of course she loved me! Just watch! Mister Magic 8ball, doesn’t Jenny love me?” Looking down at the answer she scowled. “‘Cannot predict now’. Now, what kind of answer is that?” 

Grinning smugly The Spine watched her cross her arms and pout. “Not so fun when you’re the butt of the joke, is it? Guess it’s a good thing you didn’t get that extended warranty after all.”

While Rabbit pouted, Zero took up the magic 8ball. “Hey, can we go watch ice cream melt in the microwave?” Flipping it over he grinned and showed Rabbit. “It says it’s certain. So we can go watch ice cream melt. That will be fun, right?”

Rabbit immediately perked up and grabbed the toy. “Yeah! Th-that’ll be lots of fun!”

While they got up Zero looked at The Spine and tapped Rabbit’s shoulder. “What about The Spine?” He looked over her shoulder while she checked.

“Nah, it doesn’t say so. Come on Zero!” Grabbing his arm she dragged him down the hall. They were quickly chittering on about what kind of ice cream they had and if Six would get mad at them again for melting it all.

The Spine sat still a moment while he watched the doorway they had left from. He wasn’t sure if he was offended or not that she had been so hasty. In the end, he decided he was more grateful they had finally given him some space. He could always melt ice cream on his own if he wanted to. He even knew to stop the microwave before it beeped on late nights. For now, he got up and switched to a different movie. May as well enjoy the peace while he could.

Settling into his favourite chair he relaxed and prepared to enjoy a good movie. Suddenly there was giggling again. Snapping to attention he saw the credits rolling on the screen. He hadn’t meant to relax that much!

At least they had left him alone. Adjusting his hat he made to leave the lounge. Only to be stopped before he could stand when they came in.

“There ya are-are! You’re ju-just in time for the movie!” Rabbit cheered and pushed on his shoulders to push him back into his seat. 

“I’ve just finished, Rabbit. You two go right ahead.”

“But The Spine! We all gotta watch a movie. The 8ball said so,” said Zero while waving his hands in the air excitedly. Even as a robot it was impressive that he hadn’t flown away yet.

“Ye-yeah! It’s going to be fun! Mister 8ball here will pick out the best movie, ju-just you watch!” Going through the movies she started to ask it about each one and dropping nos onto the floor.

“Rabbit! At least put them back. You’re a robot, not a pig.”

She paid him no mind as she went through a disconcerting amount of movies before getting a positive answer. Holding it up it had someone screaming in terror on the cover.

“Rabbit, that’s a scary movie. Are you sure? I’m not going to sit around and scare off fake monsters because you can go into stasis again,” warned The Spine as she started to prep the movie.

“Th-The Spine, you worry too mu-much! If the magic 8ball says to watch this one, then it’s gonna be alright, right?”

Even Zero looked worried, but Rabbit wouldn’t let that dissuade her from watching the movie. Once the disk started she giddily turned around to find a place to sit. Going to every seat and cushion she asked the 8ball again. Right until she came up to The Spine’s seat.

“Yes definitely! Y-you gotta get up, Spine. I go-gotta sit here. See?” She showed him the ball and giggled.

“You can’t sit in my chair just because a toy said so. That’s ridiculous. This is the chair I always sit in and I’m not about to change it because of a toy. There are plenty of other seats in here for you to sit on. Pick one of them, Rabbit.”

“Sp-Spine! I gotta do wh-what it-it-it says,” whined Rabbit stomping her foot and pouting. She had taken too much of a shining to what a piece of plastic had to say. When her brother still refused to move she walked behind the seat and pushed

“Hey!” yelled The Spine as he tumbled off the chair and sprawled onto the floor. “What’s the big idea, Rabbit?”

Setting the chair back to rights she beamed at her brother while he pulled himself to his feet. “The-the-the 8ball said to sit here, Spine! I have to do what it says.” Once the chair was right again she flopped onto it and sighed. “Thanks for keep-keep-keepin’ it warm for me.”

Straightening out his hat The Spine huffed. “And since when do you listen to anyone, Rabbit?”

Instead of answering him she waved her arms and hushed him. The movie was starting and she leaned forward to really get into it. It was going to be a long one.

Rolling his eyes he left the two to their movie, and about three more after. Apparently, it was a series. There was plenty to do around the manor that could keep him busy and away from his siblings. As well as that blasted toy. At least until it was late enough to put the robots into stasis. 

Getting them upstairs was nearly as difficult as herding cats, as Rabbit was very insistent that robots didn’t need to sleep and she wanted to stay up to write more music. The entire time she was holding the 8ball tight enough Spine was surprised it hadn’t cracked.

“No, we don’t. But it’s good to rest a while and it gives the Walters a chance to update our systems and for us to run virus checks. We do this every night, Rabbit.”

“That’s what I me-mean! What’s o-o-one night, right?” She turned around and tried to go downstairs. “I’ll ju-just head do-,” she was stopped by The Spine hooking his arm around hers. Stumbling to keep her footing was all she could manage as he dragged her to her room.

“Going into stasis also gives the Walters a chance to rest without worring about us, Rabbit. Or us making too much noise, like playing music.” Once he managed to wrestle her into her room he put his hands on his hips and smirked. “This wouldn’t have anything to do with watching multiple horror movies before bed, would it?”

Rabbit crossed her arms in defiance as stream rushed out of her cheek plates. “Of-of-of course not! I ai-ain’t scared of no movies. Be-besides, the magic ball wouldn’t let me-me watch anything that bad. I-I’m fine!”

“Really? So you’re fine if I just go?” Asked The Spine pointing to the door behind him before he made to leave. He didn’t even finish turning before his sister jumped out and grabbed his arm.

“Wa-wait! Before you-you go. Can you make sure it’s safe?”

Turning back he smirked. “I thought you said you weren’t afraid. That if the Magic 8ball said it was okay it would be alright.”

Rabbit whined and stomped her foot. “Okay okay, I get it! Please? I won’t be able to go into stasis.” 

For a brief moment, The Spine debated on letting her get through the night on her own. It was her fault, after all, listening to a toy nearly as old as they were. The thought didn’t linger when he saw how scared she was.

Slumping his shoulders The Spine sighed. “Fine. But you have to give me that stupid toy. No more asking it stupid questions and letting it rule your life. Deal?”

Looking the toy over sadly, Rabbit handed it over. He was right and she knew it. “Deal. Please hurry up and check!” She squeaked when she heard something thump nearby.

After checking the bed, her closet and behind every other piece of furniture in the room he was finally able to get her to lay down and power down for the night.

“There. Nothing but dust bunnies and old Sears magazines. You’re fine.”

Once he was sure she wouldn’t yell as soon as he left The Spine slipped out to the hall. Looking at the toy he narrowed his eyes and glared.

“You, my friend, have done nothing, but cause me trouble all day. You’re a horrible influence on Rabbit, and she doesn’t need any more help with getting herself into trouble.” He had half a mind to throw it away. Holding it over his wastebasket, he thought about it. But it wasn’t his. That wasn’t fair to Rabbit to throw away something of hers. Even if it was trouble.

Sitting down on his bed he loosened his tie while he stared at it. He could give it back in the morning. Hopefully, after this, she wouldn’t be so obsessed with it.

“You’re just supposed to be a bit of fun after all. No harm in that.” What was the harm in just some playful questions?

He gave it a gentle shake. “You don’t really think I’m a dummins, do you?” Turning it over he frowned deeply when it simply displayed ‘Yes’.


End file.
